Health committee  You run the homeless program.

Health committee  In a city like Vancouver, money is how you access housing. And we know, if you look at some of the income rates of queer people versus non-queer people, we are economically disadvantaged. So I think if you're using that as a variable, then yes, we would be disadvantaged in locati

Health committee  I just want to get your sources on that one, Marilyn, sorry. The 50% of new infections are women who are having sex with men who have sex with men?

Health committee  It's my understanding that gay, bi and other men who have sex with men still represent the majority of new infections in almost every jurisdiction, with maybe the exception of Saskatchewan.

Health committee  That is true. I know there have been stats thrown around about increases like one hundredfold, two hundredfold among women. That does happen in some areas, but we're still talking about relatively small absolute numbers.

Health committee  I can't speak to the number of infections coming from heterosexual sex as a result of the partner being infected with HIV, but we definitely know that happens. I would challenge folks to look at the stats. If you look at a city like Vancouver, you see that 60% of new infections a

Health committee  I think targeted programs are what we need currently, because we see gaps in the way care is generally delivered. The goal would be to get to a place where it doesn't matter if you're a physician in your riding or in the centre of Toronto; your competency would be sufficient enou

Health committee  I just want to say—and I think this is building on Gabriel's point—that not all intersections are created the same. You're right: there is a plethora. There could be many combinations, but we know that certain intersections are having worse health outcomes than others. I think t

Health committee  Yes, I was with you unofficially in Montreal.

Health committee  The data has not yet been made available, but it should be within a couple of weeks. It was a major part of our last Sex Now survey, which was actually funded by Canadian Blood Services to study just this question. I can tell you, without giving away anything, that overwhelmingly

Health committee  When you say drugs, I'm assuming you mean prevention drugs or treatment for HIV?

Health committee  It depends on the province. Some provinces have co-pays. Others have completely free access to medications. For instance, in British Columbia we have a very robust, well-funded program that allows anyone with HIV to access medications free of charge. There are actually some other

Health committee  Absolutely, yes.

Health committee  I appreciate that background research. There are a couple of things. One of the barriers is being out to your health care provider. As I said, we have research outside of Vancouver that shows us that in smaller communities up north, upwards of 60% of people are not out to their

Health committee  Certainly there is a push to get more testing options approved in Canada. I think you heard some of that testimony by Dr. Mark Gilbert a couple of weeks ago, and I know there is a brief coming forward that will also talk about the various testing options. Self-testing or home te